Forestry Commission refreshes the clients operational systems at all locations

"Working closely together with Fujitsu as one unified team allowed us to co-ordinate the programme very efficiently and reach sites across the country within a strict timeframe. It was this collaborative approach that ensured success and made the process relatively painless"

Clare Atkins,
Head of Business Solutions, Forestry Commission

The customer

Established in 1919, the Forestry Commission plants many millions of trees and harvests almost four million tonnes of wood every year from public forests – equivalent to more than a third of total domestic production. This reduces the UK’s dependency on imported wood and provides low-carbon materials for manufacturing, fuel and energy. As Britain’s largest land manager, the organisation is also custodian of 900,000 hectares of land including National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, where millions of visitors contribute almost £2 billion annually to the economy.

The challenge

The Forestry Commission was using Windows XP on thousands of devices, however this OS was reaching end of life and would no longer be supported. It needed to upgrade all of these machines to Windows 7.

The solution

The organisation turned to its existing business partner, Fujitsu, to develop a precise deployment programme for over 2,200 machines in 54 locations.

The benefit

Fujitsu worked overnight to upgrade up to 100 computers per week without disrupting the business

The presence of the Fujitsu floor walker on-site the following day enabled users to have any questions answered

The team used Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager to streamline deployment and automate the build process for the most seamless migration

The new OS gives a consistent, standardised user experience for better productivity